Ears to Hear
Read Acts 2:36-39
“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Big Idea: Hearing the Good News is not enough.
Romans 10:17 says that, “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” What is the connection between hearing and believing? Let’s examine the book of John to learn more.
(1) YOU CAN HEAR THE GOOD NEWS AND NOT BELIEVE.
John 5:39-40 “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.”
John 6:35-36 “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me.”
John 8:43-44 “Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him.”
John 10:25-26 “Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep.”
John 12:37: “But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him.”
(2) FAITH REQUIRES A PERSONAL RESPONSE TO THE GOOD NEWS.
John 6:45 “Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.”
John 4:41 “Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”
John 6:68-69 ” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”
John 10:41-42 ” And many followed him. ‘John didn’t perform miraculous signs,’ they remarked to one another, ‘but everything he said about this man has come true.’ And many who were there believed in Jesus.”
John 11:26-27 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”
(3) HEARING THE GOOD NEWS AND RESPONDING IN FAITH RESULTS IN ETERNAL LIFE.
John 5:24-25 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.”
John 7:37-38 “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”
John 10:27-28 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me”
John 17:3 “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
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